Latest news > Church of England General Synod says praying to help gay people should be banned

Church of England General Synod says praying to help gay people should be banned

13 July 2017

The Church of England’s General Synod has just passed a motion calling on the UK government to ban what they term “conversion therapy”.

By this, they do not mean the sort of horrific medical treatments such as “chemical castration” that were sometimes forced on gay people half a century ago. Rather, what the General Synod voted to ask the government to ban was “prayer ministry”, i.e. praying for people who experience unwanted same-sex attraction to be set free from that. In other words, what the General Synod asked the government to ban was a particular form of prayer.